John Rain Books in Order: How to read Barry Eisler’s series?

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks!

John Rain is a fictional character created by Barry Eisler. Ex-Special Forces and ex-CIA, he is now a freelance assassin for hire who specializes in making his victims appear to have died of natural causes. Rain is offering his assassination services to any client willing to follow his three rules:

  1. No women or children
  2. No secondary team working separately on an assassination Rain is handling
  3. Principal actors only (i.e., no hits on family members, etc., in order to “send a message”).

How to read the John Rain Series in Order?

Every novel in the John Rain book series works as a standalone story.

  1. A Clean Kill in Tokyo-previously published as Rain Fall. Half American, half Japanese, expert in both worlds but at home in neither, John Rain is the best killer money can buy. You tell him who. You tell him where. He doesn’t care about why… Until he gets involved with Midori Kawamura, a beautiful jazz pianist-and the daughter of his latest kill.
  2. A Lonely Resurrection-previously published as Hard Rain. All John Rain wants is to get out of the killing business. But with his discretion, his reliability, and his unique talent for death by “natural causes,” no one is willing to let him just retire. So when an old nemesis from the Japanese national police force comes to him with a new job-eliminate Murakami, a killer even more fearsome than Rain himself-he can’t refuse.
  3. Winner Take All-previously published as Rain Storm. John Rain has disappeared in Brazil to escape the killing business and the enemies encircling him in Japan. But the CIA isn’t willing to lose its premier “natural causes” contract killer, and they force Rain to take on a high-risk assignment: eliminate a ruthless arms dealer operating in Southeast Asia.
  1. Redemption Games-previously published as Killing Rain. After nearly dying while taking out a target in Hong Kong, Rain has a new employer, The Mossad, which wants him to fix a “problem” in Manila. He also has a new partner, Dox, a sniper as deadly as Rain himself. When Rain’s conscience causes him to botch the Manila hit, he finds out the next problem The Mossad wants fixed is him.
  2. Extremis-previously published as The Last Assassin. When John Rain learns that his former lover, Midori, has been raising their child in New York, Rain senses a chance for reconciliation, perhaps even for redemption. But Midori and the child are being watched by Rain’s enemies, and Rain’s sudden appearance puts them in terrible danger. To save them, Rain is forced to use the same deadly talents he had been hoping to leave behind.
  3. The Killer Ascendant-previously published as Requiem for an Assassin.With a new identity in Paris, and the help of his lover, Mossad agent Delilah, John Rain was beginning to leave the killing business behind. And then he receives a message from rogue CIA operative Jim Hilger: We have your friend Dox. Do as we tell you, or he dies.
  1. Paris is a Bitch“, a short story-For most couples, a quiet dinner for two at Auberge de la Reine Blanche on the Ile Saint Louis would be just the thing to smooth out the complications in a romance. But for Mossad operative Delilah and John Rain, nothing is ever easy, and when Rain sees a crew of hard-looking men setting up outside the restaurant, he realizes someone has been bringing her work home with her.
  2. The Detachment-When legendary black ops veteran Colonel Scott “Hort” Horton tracks John Rain down in Tokyo, Rain can’t resist the offer: a multi-million dollar payday for the “natural causes” demise of three ultra-high-profile targets who are dangerously close to launching a coup in America. But the opposition on this job is going to be too much for even Rain to pull it off alone.
  3. The Khmer Kill“-It’s a Dox short story, not a John Rain Story.For former Marine sniper Dox, a long-range hit in Cambodia was supposed to be just business as usual. But when you find yourself mixed up with rogue intelligence operations, gorgeous bar girls, and the world’s worst human-trafficking heart of darkness, business is anything but usual. And making it personal is the most dangerous business of all.
  4. London Twist-It’s a Delilah novella, not a John Rain story. For Delilah, the parameters of the assignment were routine. The contractor: MI6. The objective: infiltrate a terror network, this one operating out of London. The stakes: a series of poison gas attacks on civilian population centers. There’s just one wrinkle. The target is a woman. And for a cynical operative thrust suddenly out of her element, the twists and turns of the spy game are nowhere near as dangerous as the secrets and desires of the human heart.
  1. Graveyard of MemoriesA Prequel, can be read first, but you’ll get more from it at that point. What makes a legendary assassin? For John Rain, it was the lessons of love, war, and betrayal he learned in Tokyo in 1972. Fresh from the killing fields of Southeast Asia, Rain works as a bagman under the watchful eye of his CIA handler, delivering cash to corrupt elements of the Japanese government. But when a delivery goes violently wrong, Rain finds himself in the crosshairs of Japan’s most powerful yakuza clan.
  2. Zero Sum – Returning to Tokyo in 1982 after a decade of mercenary work in the Philippines, a young John Rain learns that the killing business is now controlled by Victor, a half-Russian, half-Japanese sociopath who has ruthlessly eliminated all potential challengers. Victor gives Rain a choice: kill a government minister or die a grisly death. But the best route to the minister is through his gorgeous Italian wife, Maria, a route that puts Rain on a collision course not only with Victor but with the shadowy forces behind the Russian’s rise to dominance-and the longings of Rain’s own conflicted heart.
  3. The Killer Collective – When a joint FBI–Seattle Police investigation of an international child pornography ring gets too close to certain powerful people, sex-crimes detective Livia Lone becomes the target of a hit that barely goes awry-a hit that had been offered to John Rain. Suspecting the FBI itself was behind the attack, Livia reaches out to former Marine sniper Dox. Together, they assemble an ad hoc group to identify and neutralize the threat.

  1. The Chaos Kind – Assistant US Attorney Alondra Diaz hates traffickers. And she’s determined to put one of America’s most powerful financiers, Andrew Schrader, in prison forever for his crimes against children. But Schrader has videos implicating some of the most powerful members of the US national security state. To eliminate Diaz, the powers that be bring in a contractor. Enter former Marine sniper Dox and black-ops veteran Daniel Larison with an unusual assignment: not to kill Diaz, but to keep her alive. A lot of players are determined to acquire the videos and the blackmail power they represent. But with Seattle sex-crimes detective Livia Lone, “natural causes” killer John Rain, and ex-Mossad honey-trap specialist Delilah, the good guys might just have a chance.

If you like our article about the John Rain series in order, don’t forget to bookmark it! Also, you may be interested in Mark Greaney’s book series.

Similar Posts

One Comment

  1. BEST FICTION I’VE EVER ENJOYED. 78 NOW & DYING (COPD BUT NEVER SMOKED A CIGARETTE) — AND KIND SIR — YOU HAVE CONTINUED TO GIVE ME DAYS OF JOY READING BOOKS I HAD NOT YET READ!! THANK YOU FROM EVERYWHERE I AM GOING NEXT!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *